Fourth man has been charged in Jontay Porter betting scandal

A fourth guy was detained on Friday in connection with the sports betting incident that resulted in the NBA expulsion of Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter. Ammar Awawdeh, 32, surrendered following the arrests of three co-defendants earlier this week.

A court lawsuit accuses Awawdeh of pressuring an NBA player, identified only as "Player 1," to settle gambling debts by leaving games early. The strategy, which the two dubbed a "special," would ensure a payoff for everyone who gambled on his underperforming in those games.

Using an encrypted messaging program, Awawdeh wrote early this year that he was "forcing" the gamer to do it, telling him to "screenshot this," according to the lawsuit. Awawdeh, who helps operate his family's New York City corner businesses, was charged and freed on $100,000 bail to home detention with ankle monitoring. His attorney, Alan Gerson, declined to comment on the claims.

Jontay Porter has not been charged in the investigation or identified in the complaint. But information regarding Player 1 matches those in an NBA investigation that led to his lifetime suspension in April. The league discovered that he gambled on NBA games in which he did not participate and withdrew from at least one so that a wager would pay more than $1 million to a tipped-off bettor.

Jontay Porter left the game due to sickness

Porter only played briefly on those days before exiting the floor due to injury or sickness. According to the complaint, a betting business finally prevented Mollah from collecting the majority of his more than $1 million in wins from the March 20 game.

The defendants, accused of conspiracy to conduct wire fraud, have not entered a plea. Their lawyers have declined to comment, except McCormack's lawyer, Jeffrey Chartier, who stated that "no case is a slam dunk." Messages requesting comment were left with an agency that formerly represented Porter. There was no current contact information for the player himself.